Based on the novel by George V. Higgins, Killing Them Softly is an allegory of the american and global economic crisis, here explored through the disruption of a gambling community. It initially follows a couple of naive run of the mill dumb ex-cons who are given the "opportunity" of making money stealing from the poker gamers and letting another take the fall for it. Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn make for two really funny characters and their conversation while one of them is heroin-high had me laughing throughout. The point of view then changes mostly for Jackie, the "enforcer" hired to investigate the heist and deal with the culprits. Brad Pitt is as good as usual, though his character sometimes walks the line between being mysterious and just outright nonsensical. Speaking of performances, I must also give thumbs up for James Gandolfini as Mickey, a good comic relief halfway through the film.

The predictable beatings and deaths are very well depicted, realistic even, nor too much nor too little bloody or gory and for me became some of the best visual scenes. All along the film we are shown, in parallel to the plot, multiple speeches both from GW Bush and Obama, making clear (sometimes even too much) the point of the film. By the end there is a scene where Jackie is far too straightforward and, first while critiquing one of Obama's speeches and after while talking with his contractor, says word by word what the plot was supposed to make you think about. This was for me the worst moment of the film, absurd, unnecessary and spoiling the end.

The other down point of Killing Them Softly is the pace. It is too slow, had a dozen too many silent moments in the middle of otherwise normal conversations and had me eye-rolling once in a while.

All in all a fun film with a good plot and an intelligent if far too literal metaphor, that rejects that fake awe-inspiring idea of land of freedom and opportunity, shows what can happen when the economy is as broken as ours is right now, but sadly fails to excel.